Stranger Danger
by seeking-out-sunshine
Summary: Lucy trusts her gut feeling more than she should OR the "u broke into my apartment drunk thinking it was ur friend's house and i should call the cops but my pet kinda likes you so we're good" AU


Written for shannascarlet from tumblr.

* * *

Lucy Heartfillia always gets this gut feeling when something horrible is about to happen. Like, in seventh grade when she got this feeling before the field trip and a rock slide on the road almost crushed the bus. Also, after she transferred school and this girl thought it would be funny to stuff her into a locker. She the same feeling to thank for not ending up in the bank the very same day it was robbed. It was her guts that warned her that her mother might not make it back and she didn't.

Lucy trusted her guts more than a logical person like herself should.

And her guts were warning her that something will happen tonight.

She locked her door and checked her gas line. She checked if it were time to take Plue to the vet. She unplugged her phone from the charger after the battery was at a 100%. She even opened her door once more just to make sure the fire extinguisher was where it should be. She listened to the weather report to make sure there wasn't any chance of being snowed in. She checked her supply of canned foods. She cleared the boxes from under her table so she would have shelter in case of an earthquake. Lucy even went as far of taking out the baseball bat and putting it beside her bed.

"Be on your guard, Plue." She told her dog. But it fell to deaf ears as the Great Pyrenees was already asleep.

Lucy sighed and double checked everything. She Only went to sleep after she was sure she would be a hundred percent safe, only to waken up once more by the sound unpleasant of glass breaking.

The only glass object in the apartment besides her glasses was a vase. It was on a table by the window that…leads…out…to…fire exit. Oh my god! How could she have forgotten to close the window! Lucy silently cursed herself as she sat up. She vaguely wondered why oh why she had a dog when it wouldn't even bark at intruders.

Her heartbeat skyrocketed in a matter of seconds. The blonde grabbed for the baseball bat in the dark, she knew better than to turn on the lights. Once the wooden weapon was in her hand Lucy wondered if she should really go out. It'd be much safer and practical to just call 911. A moment later she decided to go out anyway. It just might be her neighbor's cat. Yeah, it was probably her neighbor's cat, Lucy reassured herself. She pulled herself of the bed and stood in front of the door for a moment.

She took a deep breath and pulled her door open as fast as she could, hoping to startle who or whatever was in her living room. She succeeded by the looks of it. She could make the figure of a man half-sitting, half-lying in her couch before the lights dazzled her. Thankfully her eyes adjusted quickly.

First thing she spotted was Plue still sleeping in his little plastic house. She let out a sigh of relief and mentally thanked god that the intruder hadn't hurt one of the most precious person (person?) in her life. Then, she noticed that there was a guy in her couch. A boy with coral pink hair (pink!) was slouched over her couch. He seemed to be in middle of taking off his shirt. His eyes were hazy and cheeks tinted red and Lucy immediately realized he was drunk.

Some drunk freak was stripping in her couch.

Lucy did the normal thing to do. She screeched.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING IN HERE!?"

He winced. "Shhhh. Notssss loud." He threw her a droopy smile and made his way towards her. He stumbled a bit. It was kind of cute in the creepiest way possible. Lucy scowled at herself for her inappropriate line of thought and decided to contemplate whether or not putting down the baseball bat is a good idea.

Lucy was so lost listing the pros and cons of lowering her weapon, she forget about the reason she needed self-defense anyway. But like every other mishappening this one didn't like to be ignored either. Lucy figured that out when the drunk-pink-cute invaded her personal space.

He was so close, which was way too close, that she could smell the beer on his breathe and the strawberry in his hair (Weird, she used the same shampoo as him). Lucy's eyes widened and breath hitched as the anxiety of having a total stranger―one that was intoxicated with alcohol no less―so close to her. Even though the blonde desperately wanted to move away, she couldn't. The shock froze her to her place, unmoving, barely breathing and heartbeat shooting dread pulsing into her veins.

Lucy was an inch away from an anxiety attack when her assailant muttered with a heavy slur, "'s cold at home. I don' w-wa-wanna be lonely there by myself. Lemme…. stayy, you bastard." His dark eyes were focused somewhere between her shoulder blade and neck. Even though his features were new to the blonde the expression on his face was not. She's seen that expression on her father's face at the funeral. Taking over Lucy's best friend's face before she cried on the blonde's shoulder. Glued on her teacher's face every day until she was gone. Too many times on the bathroom mirror sticking to her own features and sending her somewhere she doesn't want to be. "'s too cold there o-on my own, Gray."

Wait, Gray? As in down the hall, Gray? Stripping problem Gray? Juvia's boyfriend Gray? He knew Gray? A wave of recognition passed through Lucy and she ever so tentatively took a step back in hope of winning back her personal space. She shakily took in a gulp of oxygen. By the time she had exhaled, she had figured out what to do.

"Okay." Her voice was merely a whisper. "I'll get the couch ready for you. Why don't you go get yourself a glass of water?"

"'kay, if you say so, Errrza." He nodded and stumbled his way towards the kitchen. Lucy smiled. First drunk-pink-cute mistook her for Gray, who she resembled in no way possible. Gray was dark hair, bright eyes and she was light hair, dull eyes. Gray was tall, built, lean and she small, out of shape and busty. Most of all Gray was a man and Lucy was unmistakably a woman. And now the boy mistook her for Erza, whoever Erza might be. Good god, he must be drunk.

Lucy opened up the couch and transformed it into a bed. It took a little bit more time than she expected. But that's alright since this was the first time she opened it. She brought out a pillow and two blankets out of her closet and set it on one end. She was just grabbing the aspirin when she heard him run into something and cursing in a slurred voice.

"Are you okay?" she peeked out of the bathroom door. Lucy tried hard to suppress her smile when he saw him sprawled on the floor looking so utterly baffled by the concrete tiles. She couldn't. he was too cute for that.

He yawned as he picked himself up from the floor. "mmmm, think so. Jus' so sleepy. 'mma sleep now."

Lucy watched as he sprawled down on the couch-bed, ignoring the blankets completely and hugging the pillow, and fell asleep just as soon. The blonde smiled. She put the aspirin on the coffee table and a glass of water next to it. She also added a note explaining the situation just in case he woke up before her.

…..

The next morning when Lucy woke up the boy was still snoring on her couch.

Plue ran to her the moment she opened her bedroom door and Lucy bent down to scratch behind his air. The snow white thing whimpered affectionately.

"Of course, you're awake now, you lazy old thing. You're never awake when I am possibly in mortal danger, are you? Are you?" Lucy cooed at him affectionately before setting out breakfast for Plue. She loved Plue to a fault, really.

After she was done, Lucy took a second to properly take in his features. His pink hair seems just as odd as it seemed the night before. But the morning light somehow softened his feature and he looked more innocent than he did the night before. He _is _cute, Lucy decided. Then she realized how creepy she's acting and walked out to the hallway in hope of getting Gray.

She ringed the doorbell twice and knocked several times before Gray finally opened the door, "What the fuck? You better have a good reason to wake me this early or I―oh, Lucy, it's you." he stopped cursing immediately when he saw her. Judging by the way his posture changes from tired to alert in seconds, Lucy guessed that he probably assumed something to be seriously wrong. "Is everything okay?"

"Depends," she shrugged. "If your neighbor's friend breaking into your apartment at 3 in the morning is included in your definition of okay then, everything is perfect."

Gray's shoulders relaxed for just a second before the guy processed the words, "Holy shit! Who―?"

"The one with the pink hair," Lucy said, "I let him crash on my couch. Could please come and get him now?" she gestured towards her apartment.

"Natsu? That's weird. That freak drinks like a fish in water but, I've never actually seen him drunk. What―" Gray said in surprise. He stepped out and closed the door. He seemed to remember something. Lucy wondered if last night was somehow different from every other Tuesdays. She knew better than to ask.

They were half across the hall when Gray spoke again.

"I'm sorry by the way. He didn't try anything, did he? You should have came and gotten me earlier."

"No, of course not! He was harmless, really. That's why I didn't get you." she laughed awkwardly. "It was late and I thought it would be rude to wake you for something as silly as this."

Lucy knew her words weren't entirely true. Because it was late and it's be rude to disturb Gray? That's a horrible excuse. She's not the kind of girl who thinks of manners much. She met Gray because he had his music up too loud and she went over and demanded he turn the volume down. For god's sake, it would be more like her to go tear Gray's door down and shove cute-pink-drunk―Natsu at Gray.

"Still you should have gotten me." Gray said to her. "I swear you are too trusting of men some times, Lucy. Not everyone is a gentleman, you know. There are some psychos out there who would definitely try to take advantage of you."

"Oh. I know." Lucy let out another laugh as she inserted the key to her door. "But I'm sure a gentlemen like yourself wouldn't keep savage for company." She opened the door for him.

Gray grumbled a bit as he steps in, "I wouldn't bet on it."

Plue lifted turned his head towards the door and let out bark in greeting. Then the dog went back to wrestling his favorite chew toy.

Natsu was still draped over the couch with no grace whatsoever. The morning sun that was directly in his eyes or Plue's hustle had no affect on his slumber. He was still snoring away peacefully. His vibe was the same as a child's. The idea that this boy might try something inappropriate was beyond Lucy. If anything, she could see him as the boy who would defend a girl from a drunkard and get beat up in the process. Lucy had the strangest urge to go protect him from the hypothetical villain.

Gray, however, didn't share this urge with her. He stalked over to the couch and dragged him up harshly by his arm. Lucy couldn't say if what surprised her more. The fact Gray didn't even try to wake up his friend or the fact that Natsu was still sleeping.

"Damn this bastard. I swear to god, he sleeps like a fucking snorlax." Gray murmured. Forcing Natsu's arm around his shoulder and supporting his weight. "Could you get the door please, Lucy?"

"Huh? Oh! Uh, sure." She held the door open for them and watched Gray drag away his friend in surprise.

Gray probably shouted out a thank you but Lucy didn't exactly hear that. She was too busy marveling at the sense of loss and empitiness that settled in her stomach.

* * *

Three days after the incident, Lucy had that feeling again. This time, however, the feeling was a bit different from the usual. Instead of nausea, she could feel butterflies dance in her stomach. Her heart raced and she felt a little dizzy. Lucy wondered if she was caught something.

She tried to check her own temperature by pressing her palm against her cheek to no avail. She was contemplating going back down to visit the pharmacy and getting a thermometer, but decided against it. She didn't feel like going down 6 stories, walking to the store and coming back up again. Lucy figured, if she was coming up something, it was nothing staying in for the next two days wouldn't fix. She planned on making herself some soup and marathoning on harry potter while snuggling with her favorite creature in the universe. But alas it seemed that fate had something else in store for the blonde.

Cute-pink-drunk―no, Natsu was sitting by her apartment door.

For a fraction of a second Lucy seriously considered just silently backing away and leaving. But where would she go and besides, it was her apartment. She would have to come home eventually. She couldn't just leave. Yeah, she would not just leave. Lucy affirmed her resolve (the fact that Natsu already noticed her played _absolutely_ no role in her decision) and walked steadily to his direction.

"Um, Hi." She greeted him. "Natsu, right?"

"Yeah and you're Loopy, aren't ya?" He stood up and brushed his jeans. "Droopy eye's neighbor who was nice or weird, mostly weird, enough to let me crash in her place even though I am a complete stranger. That Loopy?"

Lucy felt her eyebrows twitch. If she her hands weren't occupied with holding up her grocery bags then she'd most definitely hit him. "My _name_ is Lucy." She corrected, not bothering to mask the irritation on her voice. "What kind of name is Loopy, anyway?"

"I don't know… I thought it suited you though. It's as weird as you are." The urge to hit him intensified. Cute-pink-drunk, she thought? _Ha!_ He was more like jerk-jerk-jerk!

"Did you just come here to insult me? If you did, congratulations, mission accomplished. Please leave." Lucy angrily turned to her door, hoping to go inside and the slam the door on this asshole's face. But of course not! The grocery bags she clutched with one arm were obstructing her view of the keyhole and she struggled to insert the key. Embarrassment colored her cheeks red, and Lucy felt more humiliated than she did a second before.

"Fuck this stupid door and these fucking grocery bags and ESPECAILLY fuck _Stupid Drunk Jerks._ I am never ever trying to be nice again. _Never."_ She was just getting started in her cursing spree, when the bags flew out of her am. "Hey! What the fuck do you think you are doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Natsu, whose presence Lucy had taken to ignore, had taken both her bags. He's expression had changed into something softer then the indifference he sported before. Almost as if he understood Lucy's embarrassment. (The thought of him pitying her made her stomach lurch. She didn't even do anything very pitiable yet!) "I'm holding your _fucking_ Grocery bags so you can open your _stupid _door." He grinned.

Lucy blushed. But she took the opportunity and opened the door anyway. Plue came running through the apartment. He barked in complete and utter adoration before jumping on to two legs and attacking Lucy with kisses.

"Woah there, boy, I'm happy to see you too!" Lucy laughed. "C'mon Plue be a good boy now. Get off, 'kay?" she giggled again.

Plue got the message he licked her face one last time before stepping away and sniffing suspiciously at Natsu. At least, Lucy thought Plue was suspicious. She was proven wrong again when Plue let out a happy bark and started nuzzling Natsu's leg.

That little traitor.

"He likes me." Natsu grinned at her. He wrestled his way in to her apartment. "Hi, buddy. Wait just a minute 'kay? Lemme put this….down…" he completely ignored Lucy's icy glare and put the grocery bags on the coffee table.

He then crouched down to Plue's level and started petting him. "Hey there buddy. I'm Natsu. I crashed here a few nights ago. You remember me, don't ya?" Plue let out a bark in response. "Good boy."

The sight of boy talking to the Great Pyrenees was so adorable that Lucy almost let her annoyance fade. With pure persistence to hold on to the little irritation Lucy had, the blonde grabbed the grocery bags and walked into the kitchen. She was just done putting everything where they belonged, _aggressively_ and Natsu walked in with Plue on tow.

"You have a great friend here." he said as he settled on her counter. "You raised him, didn't you? Did a real good job."

"Thanks."Lucy couldn't help but smile. She took great pride in Plue.

Two years ago, Lucy came across the dog in the local pet store. She wasn't looking for a dog, exactly. She was thinking about getting something that required a lot less care, maybe a few fishes. But Plue, just a puppy then, had captivated her. She was unsure at first, seeing Plue was disabled with very little hearing and would require more care. But she just couldn't bring herself to go back home without him. So she braced herself and brought the little thing home. While Plue was not the horror she expected him to be, he still gave her a very hard time.

"I always wanted a dog. But I got my hands full just with dealing with Happy. He's my cat by the way."

"You have a cat?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Yeah. Why do you sound so surprised?" Lucy blushed, embarrassed for assuming.

"No reason… Just didn't think you to be a cat person. 's all."

"You don't really know me that well." He said matter of factly.

"Yeah…I guess I don't. I guess I don't know you at all."

Lucy muttered awkwardly. She never had been one for silences. Even when meeting a complete stranger, she had enough charisma to keep up conversation. So the blonde wracked her brain to find something to talk about, anything at all but to no avail. She glanced at Plue from the corner of her eye. The dog was just sitting there staring at Natsu.

"Then why did you let me stay?"

"Huh." Lucy let out.

"That day when I broke in, you let me stay the night. I was a stranger to you. I was 'some drunk freak" to you." He met her eyes. "Why did you let me stay?"

"Well…uhhh…you see the thing is…" Lucy hesitated for a moment but she couldn't find any excuse. So the blonde decided to stick to the truth. She blushed lightly and told the boy, "You looked lonely."

"Not that you only looked lonely and sad, you said something about being cold and alone and…" Lucy continued blurting. "…you were drunk for god's sake. So of course, kicking you out wasn't an option! What if you hurt yourself or something! And you just looked so sad. But then you called me Gray and I figured that you were a buddy of his. Since he's a good guy, I kinda assumed you're a good guy too―but seriously though, you though I was Gray? Who even does that? Do I look anything like Gray? Well, do I?" she continued on her rant before Natsu could even attempt to answer the hypothetical question. "So I guess you must be really drunk and you tripped on my floor. I freaked out a little and said you could stay then. I was still gonna call Gray but you were just so cute and harmless that I couldn't―"

Lucy was brought to an abrupt stop when Natsu suddenly brought a finger up to Lucy's lips and shut her up.

"Woah there, tiger." He was grinning. Lucy's heartbeat picked up. He was totally invading her personal space…again. "I can see where Plue got his enthusiasm from."

"Shut up!" Lucy ignored the color in her cheeks and shoved him away.

Natsu stumbled back and started laughing. The sound of his laughter, so warm, inviting and contagious that it formed a smile on the blonde's lips too. It was three second after that they were both laughing with Plue staring at the two in confusion. He barked. As if to say, "what the fuck did I miss?"

"Thank you, though." Natsu smiled at her. His expression was close to his drunk version's, gentle and sad. "Not many people would let me stay the night just cause I was a bit blue. You're a good person, Lucy, even though you're weird."

"Why are you so sad though?" Lucy asked before she could stop herself. "If you don't mind telling me, that is." she added.

He hesitated for a quite a few seconds. He rubbed the back of his head and let his eyes roam around the room, focusing on anything but her. Just when Lucy was about to apologize for asking such a personal question, he sighed. Natsu seemingly deemed that he owed Lucy the answer.

"My dad….well, they confirmed his death that day."

"I am so sorry." Lucy said. She felt like such a jerk for bringing it up.

"No, it's okay." Natsu laughed but stopped once he realized that Lucy could see the hurt in it. "My dad has been dead for a while now. He went missing on a hike. There was a landslide, dad, my uncle and aunt went missing with quite few other hikers. They announced them dead once three months passed. But they didn't find the body. A few days earlier, they found the remains and I, uh went to identify it last Tuesday." he ran his hand through his hair.

"I'm sorry, that must have been rough on you." Lucy desperately wanted to comfort him.

"Yeah…a bit. I mean, it's kind stupid, we knew it for a long time. But somehow it just feels more real, you know?"

Lucy thought about her mother. "Yeah, I do" She hesitated talked about her mother to anyone before. "My mother passed away on a plane crash. It didn't feel real to me until they found her remains either. So what you feel is not stupid at all."

"I'm sorry about your mother. Was she cool?"

Lucy smiled. "The coolest."

And for a minute they stayed that way. Lucy, smiling at Natsu and him, smiling back at her with just as much understanding. It was when Plue gave a happy bark to express his joy; he was always jolly, that the silence got awkward.

"So…" Lucy said awkwardly.

"So, I should probably be going." Natsu continued her sentence. If he felt awkward his voice didn't show it. "Thanks again for letting me stay and well, hearing me out."

"It was no problem."

"I'll show myself out." He got off the counter he was sitting on. "See ya around, Lucy."

He wasn't even out of the tiny kitchen before loneliness weighed on Lucy's shoulder. She found it odd that she was lonely. She'd never been before, just having Plue has been enough for her since this moment exactly. But nobody had talked her so genuinely and heartily since her mother passed. So maybe she had always been lonely. But she hadn't realized it until now. Whatever it might be Lucy found herself acting on this emptiness in her before she'd even approved of it.

"Wait, Natsu!"

She called out. His name felt odd on her tongue and she realized she hadn't used it before. Natsu didn't seem to notice as he turned around.

"Yeah?"

"U-um. What are doing from now?" Lucy swallowed her nerves and asked.

"All my friends are busy so…just going back home, I guess." Natsu's expression was one of reluctance, like he'd rather not go back. Somehow, Lucy understood that. For him, going back home would mean being alone again. He'd have Happy and Lucy was sure Happy was a delight, but the cat just isn't enough. "Why?"

"Well…" Lucy's cheek colored for like what, the sixth time of the night. This boy had a way of making her blush. "If you're not too busy, then would y-you like to hang around for a bit and watch Harry Potter… with me?"

He stared at her for a second before his whole face light up into a grin. "Sure!"

* * *

It's after two years when the two know more and more and more about each other, when their life has intertwined with the other's so much that they can't imagine a time when they lived without the other, when Plue has met Happy and become friends too, when they are so close that they cannot be closer, when they have gone from strangers to the closest of friends to more, Natsu will ask Lucy,

"So I am forgiven for breaking into your apartment at three in the morning while drunk because I thought it was my friend's, right?"

"Well, my dog kinda likes you." She will smile, "So we're good."

* * *

**Ending notes:** I acknowledge the fact Natsu is out of character and I try to justify myself by saying that Natsu is sad but fail miserably so I justify myself by saying this is AU. There.

Edit: thanks to the guest who pointed out my typos. i fixed them. as for Plue being a Great Pyrness, I'm not changig that. One of my cousins have a dog of that breed and it's doing just fine in an apartment.


End file.
